Christian Marabout,Soldier Monk: Charles de Foucauld between the French and the Tuareg

The life of Père Charles de Foucauld (1858–1916) epitomized many of the motifs and contradictions of French colonialism in North Africa: a cavalry officer turned incognito explorer of Morocco, he eventually renounced his worldly life and became a deeply ascetic Catholic monk, spending the last fifteen years of his life in the Algerian Sahara, primarily among the Muslim Tuareg population of the Ahaggar region. Foucauld remained close to the French military, but his approach to Christian–Muslim relations changed and matured over his time in Algeria. The present study examines Foucauld's complex relationship with colonialism and with the Tuareg during his lifetime, as well as his unexpected legacies in the present. In the Maghreb today, he is remembered for his work as a lexicographer and grammarian of the Tuareg language and its unique tifinagh alphabet – a contribution that was taken up and expanded upon by later Amazigh cultural revivalists. In addition, the Vatican in recent years has held Foucauld up as a model for interreligious dialogue and as a bridge between the Catholic Church and the Muslim world.     

Fear of Hypoglycemia in Parents of Young Children with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

The current study examined fear of hypoglycemia in 81 mothers and 64 fathers of young children with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) using the Hypoglycemia Fear Survey-Parents of Young Children (HFS-P-YC possible range = 26–130). Mothers and fathers completed the HFS-P-YC at enrollment and mothers completed it 2 weeks later. Families recorded daily blood glucose on a standardized meter for 2 weeks. Mothers’ mean total HFS-P-YC score was 75.0 (SD = 17.2) and fathers’ mean score was 66.5 (SD = 18.0). Mothers reported greater HFS-P-YC total and behavior subscale scores than fathers. Mothers’ HFS-P-YC scores were comparable to published HFS scores for mothers of preadolescents with T1DM and higher than adult patients with T1DM. The HFS-P-YC had good internal consistency and test–retest reliability in this sample. These findings suggest parents of young children with T1DM report a high level of fear of hypoglycemia. Additionally, the HFS-P-YC appears to be a reliable measure in this population.     

Superiority of variable to repeated practice in transfer on anagram solution

Previous research in motor learning shows that practicing variations of a task (variable practice) leads to better transfer than does repeatedly practicing the exact same task (repeated practice). In contrast, research on priming using verbal materials shows that performance on a test improves to the extent that the material at learning and test overlap. We tested whether variability in practice conditions can lead to improved performance with the verbal priming task of anagram solution. Participants practiced solving anagrams, either repeatedly solving the same anagram that was later tested, repeatedly solving a different anagram from the one that was later tested, or solving different variations of the anagram that was later tested. We found that this last condition-variable practice on different versions of an anagram-led to improved test performance in relation to repeated practice, even when the test anagram was the one that had been repeatedly practiced. This finding aligns results from the motor learning literature with a higher level cognitive task: anagram solution. Shea and Kohl's (1991) hypothesis, arguing that varied practice may lead to greater elaborative processing than does repeated practice, provides one account of the results.     

Collective memory: conceptual foundations and theoretical approaches

In order to outline the conceptual landscape that frames discussions of collective memory, three oppositions are proposed: collective memory versus collective remembering; history versus collective memory; and individual memory versus collective remembering. From this perspective collective remembering is viewed as an active process that often involves contention and contestation among people rather than a static body of knowledge that they possess. Collective remembering is also viewed as privileging identity formation and contestation over the sort of objective representation of the past that is the aspiration of formal historical analysis. And finally, while collective remembering involves individual minds, it also suggests something more in the form of socially situated individuals, a claim that can usefully be formulated in terms of how members of a groups share a common set of cultural tools (e.g., narrative forms) and similar content.     

The effect of neonatal temperament on caregiver behavior in the newborn nursery

The research was conducted to determine whether temperamental characteristics of neonates influence caregiver behavior as early as the second day of life. Visual attentiveness, activity, and irritability of 28 healthy newborns were rated during six 30-minute sessions. Derived scores represented the infant's behavior during the total observation time and during specified caretaking activities. Several categories of nurturant behaviors and types of comments directed toward each infant by nurse-caregivers were coded during independent sessions. Variations in caregiver behavior were shown by Pearson correlations to be related to independently assessed differences among neonates. Alert babies received the most nurturant and social contact; active infants received the least contact, but the most comments that reflected concern about their health; irritable infants were soothed most. The data clearly suggest that emerging infant temperament plays a role in shaping the caregiving environment by the second day of life.     

书法负荷对儿童大脑的激活效应的实验研究

该研究以儿童为被试探讨了书法负荷和非书法负荷(书写、计算、英文书写)前后反应时的变化情况,结果发现,(1)书法负荷后反应时明显缩短;(2)书写负荷后反应时的变化与书法负荷后相同;(3)计算负荷和英文书写负荷后未见反应时有明显缩短。